/ 24 February 2006

DRDGold looks to diversify into Africa

Gold miner DRDGold is looking to diversify into the rest of Africa and is examining the potential of two gold-mining properties in two different African countries, DRDGold strategic development officer Ilja Graulich said on Thursday.

DRDGold started the process of diversifying into Africa in November last year, he added. At present, the company has gold-mining operations in South Africa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Graulich wouldn’t comment on where the two properties are located, but he did say the properties aren’t in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“I don’t think there are too many areas in Africa that we will shy away from. I think Ghana and Tanzania are the exciting areas, but I think there is a lot of competition in those areas,” Graulich said.

“We might go into the areas that aren’t the most popular destinations and we are looking at those,” he added.

The countries that DRDGold is comfortable with are Botswana, Mozambique and Egypt, for instance, Graulich said.

“I think if we were to go into another country in Africa, we won’t go into the country blazing and trying to tack over the whole mining industry. We will tack it step by step and getting a feeling for the environment,” he added. — I-Net Bridge